In my quest to solve a 111-year-old murder mystery, I have been reading the Lake Mills Leader (Wisconsin newspaper) from 1892 to 1902. It’s a slow process, but one of the unexpected bonuses is reading about my own relatives there in Lake Mills.

It’s been a pure joy to read about my great, great Aunt Addie. In 1896, she married Enoch James Fargo, and in 1901 (a mere five years later), Enoch murdered his young wife. She was 29 years old; he was 51. He bribed a local doctor to falsify the death certificate. To read more about this story, click here.

Here are some of the obituaries that I’ve found.

Homer Hoyt was Addie's father. He died February 1894.

Homer divorced his wife, Julia Hawley Hoyt in the early 1890s. Julia went out to San Mateo California and passed on January 1895.

Here's a photo of Homer Hoyt, Addie Hoyt's father, taken about 1892. He and his wife Julia divorced sometime in the early 1890s. By 1895, there were both dead.

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Kimball Hoyt (Addie's Grandfather) died February 1893, one year before his son, Homer.

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Part 2 of Kimball's obit, penned by "Ellen," who was a semi-famous author. You can read her obit further down on this page.

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Mrs. Kimball Hoyt was Addie's paternal grandmother.

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Ellen's obituary. I wish I knew her connection to Kimball. She died October 1893, a short time after her dear friend Kimball Hoyt.

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Addie was born in 1872 and died 29 years later.

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